Boundaries Episode One: Walk the Line
by Sonic Winchester
Summary: Sam and Dean have met their match in Aurora Jane - she's a tough-as-nails hunter with a chip on her shoulder and a mean right hook. But, will one of the brothers pierce that armor and reveal the frightened little girl underneath? OC, rated M for violence, sexual abuse, and adult themes.


walk the line

"_Sweet dreams are made of this. Who am I to disagree?"_

Aurora Jane Claremont lifts a hand from the steering wheel to turn down the radio as she pulls the vintage BMW into the dirt-clad parking lot, surveying the law enforcement spread before her. State, county, township, and city officers are present, clamoring about the lot like so many ants around their hills.

Reaching into the glovebox, she sifts through the various leather folios until she finds her FBI badge and pockets it, pulling her notepad and sunglasses from her duffel bag on the passenger seat. She switches off the engine and checks her reflection in the rearview mirror, deciding to pull her honey-gold hair into a ponytail because of the heat. After one last look-over, she steps out of the car and into the muggy Michigan air.

The park around her is bright green in the summer air, with lush grass leading to fully-leafed trees around the trails and picnic tables. Aurora Jane looks around, pulling her sunglasses on and straightening her blazer. A State boy looks her way, doing an almost comical double-take. She smirks at him, slamming the car door and making her way across the parking lot.

"Agent Lennox," she says matter-of-factly, holding up her opened badge folio for him to see. He peeks at it, then her, over his sunglasses and nods. He's decidedly shorter than her, but that's partially due to her stiletto heels, as well as being a bit on the portly side.

"'Bout time you guys showed up. Third one this month."

"So I've heard," Aurora Jane says, pursing her lips.

"Officer Daniels," he says, holding out a hand for her to shake. She does, then whips out her notepad.

"The victims have all been between the ages of sixteen and nineteen, correct?"

"That's right," Daniels says, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"I see," Aurora Jane mumbles, scribbling notes on the paper. Everything he could possibly tell her, she already knows, thanks to sweet-talking a desk jockey down at the local station for some under-the-table file sharing. Still, she has to keep up appearances.

"We're thinking an animal attack. Something like a cougar, maybe." Daniels says, looking around at the scene. "Haven't seen too many in these parts for a while, but whatever it is, it has to be pretty tricky to stay alive this long."

"Why do you say that?" Looking up from her notes, she glances questioningly at him, waiting for a response.

"There's a bounty on cougars in this township. Had too many problems, and the folks around here are more than happy to shoot something if they think it'll earn them a buck or two."

Aurora Jane nods, reaching into her hip holster to pull out a silver flip-style cell phone, which she speed-dials and put up to her ear. A man answers on the second ring.

"Yeah, it's me. I need everything you have on Everett County." She talks quickly, waiting for a response.

"Sure thing, sweetheart. Listen, stop by next time you're in the neighborhood. I found somethin' you might want to get a good look at."

Unbeknownst to Aurora Jane, a sleek black car drives into the parking lot, pulling into a space beside her own, drawing a good amount of attention to itself. The driver kills the motor and steps out of the car, clad in a dark navy suit. His hair is short, almost military in style, and he has his lips pursed in a concerned manner. The passenger steps out shortly after, taller and thinner in build than the driver. His hair is dark and messy, and his eyebrows are furrowed like there's some great worry only he's aware of.

Officer Daniels looks up from pretending not to stare at Aurora Jane's cleavage and frowns as the two men approach in their direction.

"Some of yours?" He asks, and Aurora Jane turns to look at the oncoming duo. They're stopped by another officer, to which they flash badges - FBI badges.

"Charlie, I'll have to call you back." She says, pressing to end the call and stowing the phone back in its belt holster. She swallows back the tiny bubble of fear in her throat as the officer points in her direction and the men's eyes widen, hoping she can talk her way out of this.

"Daniels, this is Agents Stills and Nash." The officer attending to them walks over, followed by the men, who, at this point, are exchanging anxious glances with one another.

"Jesus, you'd think one suit would be enough." Officer Daniels says, thanking the other officer, who chuckles and walks away. "Lennox, you know these two?"

"Can't say that I do." Aurora Jane says, trying to smile pleasantly at the men. "The more the merrier."

The shorter of the two chuckles, glancing at his companion who plasters on a smile as well. Aurora Jane holds her notepad out to the taller man.

"This is what we've got so far. Looks fairly routine to me - dumb campers, hungry animal. Probably forgot to hide their Twinkies."

"Can we see the bodies?" The one with the short hair asks, looking over the notepad then back at Aurora Jane.

"Thought you'd never ask. Anything to get out of this sun." Daniels says, stowing his notebook in a belt pouch and gesturing for the three to follow him into the shade of the woods.

Aurora Jane can feel the men's eyes on her as she walks, mentally kicking herself for wearing heels to a forest crime scene. They delve farther into the trees, the number of officers growing fewer and fewer and the underbrush increasing seemingly with each step.

"Ta-da," Daniels says, holding up the police tape for them to step under and into the crime scene. Aurora Jane holds her breath, the scent of rotting flesh becoming increasingly overwhelming with each step towards the tarp-covered bodies. There's only one other officer around, and he hands each of them a pair of latex gloves as they reach the first tarp.

"Hikers found them this morning. Medical examiner said they'd been out for about forty-eight hours before that." Daniels says, shoving the gloves in his pocket.

Aurora Jane pulls on her gloves and pulls up the tarp, barely flinching at the carnage. This earns an exchange of glances from the other agents.

What used to be a teenage boy is loosely assembled in its proper form on the blood-strewn ground. Deep, ragged slashes run from one shoulder to the opposite hip, all the organs in between visible in the spotted light from above the forest canopy.

"Have there been any reports of bears in this area?" The taller man asks.

"Not to my knowledge. Haven't even seen coyotes around this year, to be honest."

"This wasn't a bear." Aurora Jane chimes in, mostly to herself. She figures up the math in her head, lightly touching the tender edges of the lesions. "It would have to be at least nine feet tall to leave marks this deep from this angle."

She looks back at the other agents, who in turn look at each other.

"So, this was, what, some super-cougar?" The shorter one says, chuckling in disbelief.

"To be honest, I'm not sure what it was, Agent. But," she says, looking up from her crouch at the three of them, "I would strongly advise closing the park and sending out an announcement to the local media."

"Chief's not gonna like this…" Daniels whispers under his breath, shaking his head and turning away.

Aurora Jane looks up at the other agents, waiting for a response. They look at each other, somewhat confused.

"I think I've seen all I need to see, Daniels," she says, standing and pulling off her gloves. She hands them to the taller of the agents with a smile and makes her way towards the path to the parking lot. The three men follow in suit, and when the parking lot is within sight, she breathes a sigh of relief.

"It was nice to meet you, Agents. Daniels, I'll be in touch." Aurora Jane smiles politely at the men, then turns and heads for her car. The analytical part of her brain is firing on all cylinders, pulling up facts and folklore, trying to match two and two together.

She reaches her car, throwing her notebook onto the passenger seat through the window. Looking in her side mirror, she sees the Agents staring in her direction, deep in poorly-hidden conversation that more than likely involves her. She snorts, pulling her arms out of her sleeves and slides off her jacket, freeing her camisole-clad shoulders and back to the summer air.

One more peek in the mirror reveals the two men, utterly astounded, staring at her backside. More accurately, her _back._ Inked in midnight black between her shoulder blades is an anti-possession sigil, roughly the size of her fist.

Turning slightly to look the men straight in the eyes, Aurora Jane pulls out the hair tie and her golden hair cascades down to cover her back, tattoo and all. She smiles, steps into her car, and speeds away without so much as a backward glance.


End file.
